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Indie Author Spotlight – Adam Dreece brings us ‘The Man of Cloud 9’

Every once in a while I like to showcase my fellow indie authors. Today I shine the spotlight on someone who has been a great mentor to me, as well as a good friend. Let’s learn a little more about Adam Dreece and his latest book, ‘The Man of Cloud 9’…

“Few people know that when the solar flare burned the middle states, Niko nearly abandoned his dream. Imagine that for a moment. There would have been no NanoClouds, no hero bringing about an era of innovation, no one reminding our broken nation that it could heal. We would have stayed in the shadow of the past, instead of rising and casting our own.” Phoebe took a steadying breath and smiled. The crowd waited patiently.

“I got to know Niko,” she continued, “right after the Flare. He was so passionate about his vision. And each and every day he was urged by those in authority to drop it. His life would have been so much easier if he had, but he wouldn’t, he couldn’t. That’s not… wasn’t Niko.” A sorrowful laugh escaped. “Not at all.”

Niko Rafaelo is a brilliant and driven inventor, determined to flip the late 21st century on its head with a new take on a banned technology, nanobots.

In a world that has been battered and bruised for decades by endless natural disasters, Niko’s ambitions are seen as reckless and wasteful.

Following in the footsteps of his Silicon Valley heroes, Niko’s startup takes the planet by storm. But what happens when the corporate beast and Niko’s conscience conflict? And what is his ultimate goal?

What readers are saying about “The Man of Cloud 9”

“…will keep readers obsessively turning the pages from the very beginning all the way through to the very end.” – Tracy A. Fischer, Readers’ Favorite, 5 Stars

“Adam Dreece continues to surprise, enthrall, and sweep us, his avid readers, along – with his elegant prose and insightful story telling. If you, like I, enjoy the scifi/fantasy genre – you can’t do better than The Man of Cloud 9.” – Rene Auberjonois, Avid Reader, Actor, Director

After writing 4 novels and a novelette in the universe of The Yellow Hoods, I needed a break from my steampunk meets fairytale universe. I decided that this year would be about showing two completely different sides of me. I started with The Wizard Killer, which has been called “Harry Potter meets Die Hard” and “Mad Max meets Lord of the Rings.” Whereas that post-apocalyptic fantasy world was an exercise in showing my adrenaline junkie side, The Man of Cloud 9 is a much more cerebral science fiction side of me.

Rather than hard science fiction, I’ve been told it’s more in the vein of The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. It was wonderful to get such a positive review from Readers’ Favorite right out of the gate.

So what’s The Man of Cloud 9 about?

It’s set 70 years in the future. Civilization has been scared by the effects of climate change, but worse than the toll in human lives, has been the loss of appetite for real innovation. Brilliant inventor Niko Rafaelo finds himself fighting every inch of the way to get people to listen to his vision for resurrecting the banned technology of nanobots, connecting it with the bacteria cloud around people, and taking features like video calling out of the history books and bringing them back.

This is an intimate story, dealing with a handle of characters, and the choices and consequences of Niko’s relentless need to see his vision realized. It’s genius versus conscience versus company.

Your other works are YA, is The Man of Cloud 9?

Yes. While it doesn’t have any non-adult characters, I tried to make sure that a teen reader would be able to relate to the story, even when reading a boardroom scene. A lot of classic science fiction could be categorized the same way, and so I see The Man of Cloud 9 really for those ages 12 and up.

What was your greatest challenge writing the book?

This book was definitely the one that terrified me the most to write. Part of that was because I really reached into myself for core elements of the man character, his issues, and his relationships. There were many times in my life where I went left, and I made Niko go right. Another part was because in some ways, it felt like I was saying goodbye to my technology career. I spent 20 years in software, from Silicon Valley to Toronto, from startups to Microsoft to my own business. Lastly, there was the difference in style between The Wizard Killer and The Man of Cloud 9 that scared me, would I lose readers? It was a risk, a risk I was willing to take.

Adam Dreece is a best-selling young adult author and three time finalist for the Independent Author Network’s Book of the Year awards (2015, 2016) thanks to his steampunk meets fairy tale series, “The Yellow Hoods”, and his post-apocalyptic fantasy series, “The Wizard Killer”. In 2014, Adam put an end to 25 years of writing and doing nothing with it, and launched his author and speaker career. With his wife, the former software architect whose 20 years of experience included working Microsoft and in Silicon Valley, founded ADZO Publishing. Ever since Adam has been a regular exhibitor and speaker at comic-cons all over Canada and an inspirational speaker at schools. Dreece hasn’t looked back since becoming a full-time author and speaker and has mined his technical past for his upcoming science fiction book, “The Man of Cloud 9”. Adam grew up in Montreal, has lived in Waterloo, Toronto and Silicon Valley, but says that nowhere has ever felt more like home than Calgary. “The Man of Cloud 9” will be Adam’s sixth published novel.